Tag Archives: Voter Participation

Oregon on track for low turnout in Tuesday’s primary

Oregon is on track to see fewer than 40% of registered voters cast their ballot in Tuesday’s primary, as is customary in years without more than one well-known contender for either major party’s presidential nomination. As of Thursday, 14.1% of Oregon voters had returned their ballots to county election offices, the state reported Friday. That […]
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Oregon 2024 primary ballot return numbers low days before election

The primary election on Tuesday is fast approaching but ballot returns remain low, according to a report from Oregon’s Secretary of State’s Office. Nearly 14.1% of ballots had been cast as of Friday morning, or 425,088 out of 3,017,724 registered Oregon voters. More than a million ballots had been returned by this time during the […]
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Hermiston group looks to boost flagging Latino voter turnout

Eastern Oregon counties with significant Latino populations have some of the worst turnout data in the state. After the 2022 midterm elections, Oregon voting officials had reason to celebrate. Oregon’s 62% voter turnout was not only well above the national average, but the best in the country. Then-Secretary of State Shemia Fagan credited the state’s […]
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Sometimes overlooked by campaigns, Indigenous voters could decide major elections in 2024

Grassroots efforts to get Native American voters to turn in their ballots for the 2024 election are in motion across swing states as Democrats and Republicans are both vying for power. There are predicted to be at least 5 million Native and Alaska Native-identifying voters in the U.S. in both rural and urban communities, according […]
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Inside my shoes: Umatilla County voters shank recent election

If Umatilla County voters were playing golf, the results would make them winners. However, voting percentages and golf cards aren’t scored the same way. Sadly, Umatilla County continued its pitiful record for low turnout during the May 16 election. According to unofficial results on the Oregon Secretary of State website, only 12.91% of the county’s […]
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OTHER VIEWS: A reminder for citizens — Democracy a two-way street

A controversial bill on guns. A walkout by a group of Republicans from the Oregon Senate, denying a quorum and essentially shutting down the people’s business. The Oregon House giving a bill intended to protect abortion and gender-affirming care a green light. Those incidents are just the latest to go down in Salem with the […]
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OUR VIEW: State voting bills each need careful consideration

Oregon saw a banner year for voter participation in 2022, leading the nation in terms of overall voter turnout for November’s general election at 61.5% — spurred by a tightly contested race for governor and a slew of state and local ballot initiatives that energized the electorate. Now, a pair of efforts before the Legislature […]
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Oregon leads nation in voter turnout rates – OPB’s Think Out Loud

Oregon currently has the highest rates of voter turnout in the entire country. Two factors political scientists point to are the state’s vote by mail system and the “motor voter” law that automatically registers people to vote when they get their driver’s license. We talk with former Oregon Secretary of State and vote-by-mail advocate Phil […]
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Two-thirds of Oregon voters participated in 2022 midterm election

More than two-thirds of Oregon voters cast ballots in the November general election, final results certified Thursday showed. In total, 1,997,689 Oregonians returned their ballots, more voters than in any other midterm election in the state’s history. “This election was smooth and secure,” Secretary of State Shemia Fagan said in a statement. “It’s a testament […]
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Ballot returns remain under 70% statewide and in Central Oregon

As of Wednesday, one day after Election Day, around 60.5% of eligible voters in Oregon showed up to vote on or before Tuesday. In Crook, Deschutes and Jefferson counties, turnout remained below 70% of eligible voters, which is not what local election officials hoped. In Jefferson County, around 58% of eligible ballots were returned, according […]
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